Plateau(X) | RZH - Rhizomatic Music

Plateau(X)
Plateau(X) brings together Priscille Oehninger on viola and looper and David Scrufari on electronics and modular synthesis. Together they are developing RZH - Rhizomatic Music, a shared musical research project built around interdependence, shifting functions, transformation and active memory.
Their practices are not simply placed side by side. Each retains its autonomy while acting upon the other, giving rise to a shared musical language.
RZH - Rhizomatic Music
RZH approaches music as a network of connections, branches and transformations, with no fixed centre or hierarchy.
In this approach, viola and electronics are not treated separately from rhythm, pitch, timbre or processes of transformation. Any of these elements can act upon the others, take on a different function and open up new musical directions.
Roles also shift between the two musicians. A gesture from the viola can alter the behaviour of the electronic system; a rhythm, voltage or state generated by that system can, in turn, change how the viola is played. The roles of soloist, accompanist, sound source and processor are not permanently assigned to either musician or instrument.
Recursion and active memory
Recursion allows information produced during performance to feed back into the music and affect its subsequent development.
In Rhizome, active memory emerges from feedback between three voltages. These voltages remain present within the system, change over time and continue to influence its behaviour. This is not the recording or playback of a musical phrase.
These processes can produce complex forms without leaving their evolution to chance. When the starting conditions and connections are restored, certain behaviours can be reproduced, transformed and incorporated into the composition.
Rhizome
Rhizome is a recursive instrumental system developed for Plateau(X). It organises multiple musical pathways, stores system states and controls how material is fed back into the process. In the current pieces, the musicians compose in real time with the rhizomatic structures it generates and intervene directly in their evolution.
Rhizome is the first instrument designed to put the principles of RZH into practice. RZH nevertheless extends beyond this particular instrument: it describes a broader way of organising music through interdependence, branching structures, memory and recursion.
The artists
David Scrufari
Sound designer, composer and live sound engineer
For more than twenty years, David Scrufari has created sound worlds for the stage, bringing together composition, sound design and technical precision. His work combines sound dramaturgy, musical writing, spatialisation and live sound in the service of performance. He has received six SSA grants for music for the stage and has worked with numerous artists and directors in Switzerland and internationally.
Priscille Oehninger
Musician, composer and performer
Classically trained and working across genres, Priscille Oehninger has developed a practice spanning composition, sound work, improvisation and performance. Her work explores relationships between music, image and theatre, with close attention to texture, hybrid forms and stage presence. She leads numerous projects of her own and has received several grants for artistic creation. Her practice develops through her own work, collaborations and cross-disciplinary projects.